One of the safest forms of vaccine is to expose the individual to
heat-killed organisms
in which the genetic information has been denatured but the protien capsule
is still intact. It isn't effective for against all viruses, but it served
well in a number of cases.
Live virus innoculations are still somewhat dangerous. It has been
proposed that AIDS might be combatted by infecting the population with a
reengineered "benign" strain that could out-compete the virulent natural
disease. I think the dangers of this approach are apparent, but with
sufficient testing it may turn out to be the least risky alternative
(eating grams and grams of synthetic chemicals also poses some long term
risks).
I think CoV was intended as an attempt to create a counter-virus of sorts.
You could also imagine creating a cult whose "memetic code" is so
dysfunctional that it acts essentially as a sort of heat-killed organism.
Raising your memetic defenses (fnord!) without being very dangerous. The
Discordians (hail Eris!) and the Church of the Subgenius (hail "Bob"!) are
potential examples.
You could also try to package "right-thinking" ideas into a good viral
package, which is what Richard B. is attempting.
The tough part is that meme evolution is much more rapid and chaotic than
gene evolution. One has much less confidence of the ultimate outcome. Not
that one shouldn't try to control things...but that the greater risks make
conservative approaches more appealing.
On the other hand, the current meme-ecology is pretty toxic, so how much
more dangerous can
an intentional manipulation be?
Knock on wood. ;-)
Reed
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Reed Konsler konsler@ascat.harvard.edu
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